The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2021.

History

The DFP was led by Dame Eugenia Charles from 1972 until 1995. She became Prime Minister in 1980 and served until her 1995 retirement. Following her resignation as party leader and the defeat of the DFP in the 1995 elections by the United Workers' Party, she was succeeded by

Brian Alleyne Sir Brian George Keith Alleyne, KC (born 28 April 1943) is a Dominican jurist, politician and judge. Early life He was the son of Keith Alleyne, the onetime attorney general of the Windward Islands and Attorney General of Grenada who was murd ...

. In 1996, Charles Savarin became the leader of the DFP. He had presided over the continuing decline of the DFP following the 2000 general election. Despite this the party still holds a degree of influence due to its accommodation with the DLP government. Even after losing all its seats and the DLP winning enough seats to form a government on their own, the DLP leader and prime minister,

Roosevelt Skerrit Roosevelt Skerrit (born 8 June 1972) is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman ...

appointed Savarin as a senator and gave him the key post of foreign minister. Many members of the DFP have criticized Savarin for his continued support for their erstwhile foes, the DLP. During the previous elections held on 31 January 2000, the party won two of the 21 popularly elected seats with 13.6% of votes cast. The party subsequently joined a coalition government with the

Dominica Labour Party The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica. History Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. N ...

(DLP), with the DLP not having enough seats to form a government on their own. The party lost all of its seats in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

at 2005 general election, held on 5 May 2005. This was the first time since 1975 that the DFP was not elected in any seats. The party garnered 3.15% of votes cast. However on 5 August 2007 a new executive was elected, with businessman Michael Astaphan being elected as Political Leader."Michael Astaphan to lead the Dominica Freedom Party"
, Dominicanewsdesk.com, 9 August 2007.

Leadership

* Eugenia Charles, 1972-1995 *

, 1995-1996 * Charles Savarin, 1996-2007 * Michael Astaphan, 2007-2008 * Judith Pestaina, 2008-2012 * Michael Astaphan, 2012-2017 * Kent Vital, 2017-2021 * Bernard Hurtault, 2021-

International Affiliations

The Dominica Freedom Party is affiliated with the

Caribbean Democrat Union The Caribbean Democrat Union is an alliance of moderate, centre-right and conservative political parties and individuals the Caribbean. It is affiliated to the global International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an ...

and the

International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

References

Political parties in Dominica Conservative parties 1960s establishments in Dominica {{Caribbean-party-stub